What Evokes the “Christmas Spirit?”

Many of us are in the Christmas Spirit, out in the malls shopping and enjoying the ambiance of all the cheer that Christmas brings. There is a certain “magic I the air” that retailers have committed to and relied on from the day after Thanksgiving up until Christmas Day. I took my kids up north to the Outlets and noticed that my mood changed when I smelled the scent of leather and suede and heard Nat King Cole’s Classic Christmas Hit “The Christmas Song.” I knew then that there is something to be said about The Christmas Spirit. Let’s examine it shall we?

Psychology Today reports that, marketers go after your senses to convince you to buy more. The funny thing is, IT WORKS!! It works in different ways depending on which senses they’re going for. For instance, certain colors might change your spending habits:

In another study they found that shoppers on eBay bid more aggressively for products shown against red backgrounds than blue backgrounds.

Of course, it’s not just what you see that matters, it’s also what you hear. In the case of the December, that means holiday music:

More importantly, classic holiday music evokes nostalgia. Recent research shows that nostalgia helps people feel better about themselves… people feel more connected to others, positive and loaded with “The Christmas Spirit” is a recipe of on the spot bumps in gift budgets. I know this to be true, The reality is this, you can’t do much to counter the experience except recognize what’s going on. When you’re aware of the manipulation at retailers, you’re less likely to succumb to their effects.